Examining evidence on Mumbai, to respond soon: Pak tells US

Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Jan 5 (PTI) Hours after India handed over
evidence linking elements in Pakistan to the Mumbai terror
strikes, Islamabad Monday assured the US that it was examining
the information and would frame a formal response soon.

Pakistan's top political leadership informed this to
visiting US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher.

Boucher's arrival here Monday morning coincided with the
handing over of evidence by India about the terrorist attacks
in its financial hub that killed more than 180 people.

Though there was no official word on Boucher's meetings
with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Foreign Minister
Shah Mehmood Qureshi, official sources were quoted by TV
channels as saying that the Pakistani leaders had informed the
US diplomat that the government is examining the information
received from India.

Islamabad's formal response would be framed shortly, the
sources said.

India Monday handed over to Pakistan evidence about
involvement of elements based in that country in the Mumbai
attacks and asked Islamabad to implement its commitments.

Boucher discussed the regional security situation in the
wake of the Mumbai attacks with Gilani and Qureshi. Bilateral
relations, the situation along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border
and an anti-militancy operation launched by Pakistani security
forces in the Khyber tribal region also reportedly figured in
the discussions.

Qureshi was initially scheduled to participate in
Boucher's meeting with the premier but stayed back in the
Foreign Office to study the information provided by India on
the Mumbai attacks.

Boucher was also scheduled to meet Pakistan President
Asif Ali Zardari.

During his meeting with Boucher, Gilani asked for the
repatriation of Pakistani national Afia Siddiqui, who has been
detained by American authorities as a terror suspect.

Gilani also said the US must play its role to end the
Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.

The Pakistani leaders also sought the repatriation of
five Pakistani nationals currently being held in the US
military prison at the Guantanamo Bay. PTI